How To Evict A Tenant With No Tenancy Agreement

Landlords and property investors hope and aim to avoid problems. The need for litigation and for evictions is thankfully rare- court claim volumes suggest 95%+ landlord and tenant relationships don’t require a court process. Sometimes this can’t be avoided. 

Whenever a tenancy is being entered into between a landlord and a tenant, a written tenancy agreement should be agreed and signed. A copy of the tenancy agreement (ideally the original) should be retained. A tenancy creates rights and obligations and setting these out within a written agreement is therefore important. Entering into a written agreement aids transparency and sets out clearly important contractual terms such as the identity of the tenant, the rent payable, the property, when, how and by whom rent payments should be made, amongst others.

As with any document, tenancy agreements can be lost, mislaid or perhaps never actually signed or entered into for any number of reasons. In these situations we are frequently asked what a landlord can do to evict a tenant.

The starting point is to double check whether there is any hope of obtaining a copy of the agreement, if one ever existed. The tenant may be prepared to provide a copy to the landlord or agent, or where Housing Benefits have been claimed, the local authority may have a copy that they are able to share.

The process to evict a tenant has recently changed as a result of the Renters Rights Act 2025. This article takes these changes into account. In this area of law each case must be evaluated depending on the facts of that particular case, especially relevant where there is no written agreement to hand. Factors such as when the tenant moved into the property are critical to consider, and the legal position will vary. Our specialist property litigation team act in these disputes nationally. If you are a landlord and are facing uncertainty regarding a tenant, we’d love to assist you.

The New Legal Landscape Under the Renter’s Rights Act 2025

In the largest and most significant change to housing, landlord and tenant law for decades, the Housing Act 1988 is no longer the primary legislation landlords and tenants need to be aware of. Section 21 ‘no fault’ notices have been abolished. It is no longer possible to serve a Section 21 notice to end a tenancy. In addition, the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (‘AST’) as a tenancy type has been removed and no longer exist. Section 2 of the Renters Rights Act 2025, from 1 May 2026 deletes the AST provisions from the Housing Act 1988, and no new ASTs can now be created on or after 1 May 2026. All existing ASTs have been converted to Assured Periodic Tenancies. Fixed-term tenancies are also abolished; the single model going forward is the Assured Periodic Tenancy, with rent periods no longer than monthly.

Under the Act, landlords must now provide tenants with a written statement of terms. For new tenancies entered into on or after 1 May 2026, the written statement must be provided before the tenancy is entered into. For existing tenancies that were wholly oral at the point of commencement, a full written statement had to be provided by 31 May 2026. Failure to provide a written statement is a breach that can result in a financial penalty of up to £7,000.

The old approach of serving a Section 21 notice and, if the tenant does not vacate, issuing a possession claim (whether accelerated or non-accelerated) is no longer available. The accelerated possession claim route, which was already unavailable where there was no written agreement, has been removed entirely.

New Route to Possession

Notwithstanding the absence of a written agreement, a process for obtaining possession is still available. The key difference from the old regime is that the landlord must now have a specific reason, a statutory ground for possession, to evict the tenant. There is no longer a ‘no fault’ route.

To recover possession where there is no written tenancy agreement a landlord must serve a Section 8 notice on the prescribed form (Form 3A), specifying all grounds relied upon and providing full particulars. The notice period will depend on the ground being used. In many cases this is four months (for example, where the landlord wishes to sell or move in), although for some grounds the period is shorter. Examples of commonly used grounds and their notice periods include:

1. Ground 1 (landlord or close family member to occupy): four months’ notice, not available within the first 12 months of the tenancy.
2. Ground 1A (landlord intends to sell): four months’ notice, not available within the first 12 months of the tenancy.
3. Ground 8 (serious rent arrears — at least three months’ or 13 weeks’ rent): four weeks’ notice.
4. Ground 10 (any rent arrears): four weeks’ notice, discretionary.
5. Ground 12 (breach of tenancy terms): two weeks’ notice, discretionary.

If the tenant has done something wrong, such as committing antisocial behaviour, damaging the property or accruing rent arrears, notice can be given using the relevant grounds at any point in the tenancy. However, if the landlord needs to sell or move in, the tenant cannot be evicted for that reason within the first 12 months of the tenancy.

If the tenant does not leave by the end of the notice period, the landlord will need to apply to the county court for a possession order using the standard possession claim route.

The absence of a written agreement does not prevent a landlord from obtaining possession, but it does create additional evidential challenges and risks a fine as above. The landlord will need to file witness statements confirming the details and background of the tenancy, including the identity of the tenant, when the tenancy commenced, the rent payable, and any deposit taken, and explaining why there is no written agreement or why one has been lost. The court will set a hearing date and the judge will consider the evidence.

A Warning: Do Not Take Shortcuts

Where there is no written agreement, landlords may be tempted to make an informal approach to removing a tenant. This is extremely risky. From 1 May 2026, a financial penalty of up to £7,000 may be imposed if a landlord attempts to end a tenancy verbally, uses a ‘notice to quit’ rather than the proper Section 8 process, or uses a possession ground in a notice when the landlord does not reasonably believe that a possession order will be granted on that ground. Illegal eviction remains a criminal offence that can lead to a prison sentence. The maximum rent repayment order has also increased from one to two years’ rent. The additional penalties and change in legislative framework clearly illustrates that this is not a sensible approach for landlords to take.

Recommendations

• Enter into a written tenancy agreement with any tenant and be sure to retain a copy. Under the Act, providing a written statement of terms is now a legal requirement and failure to do so may result in a financial penalty of up to £7,000.
• Where a written agreement has been mislaid, make enquiries to ensure a copy cannot be obtained elsewhere before assuming it is lost.
• Where no written agreement exists, gather all available evidence of the tenancy terms (bank statements, correspondence, deposit receipts) before commencing any eviction process.
• Before serving a Section 8 notice, ensure all compliance requirements have been addressed, including deposit protection, gas safety certificates, energy performance certificates and, where applicable, registration on the PRS Database.

Our specialist property litigation team act nationally and have decades of experience handling situations involving difficult tenants. We have acted in hundreds (possibly thousands) of possession claims amongst our team, with many decades of experience. If you are a landlord, letting agent or property investor in need of advice regarding an eviction, don’t hesitate to reach out to our property litigation team for initial advice. We would love to help you.